Adela N. Gonzalez, Ph.D., M.P.A., is the new executive director for the Center for South Texas Programs.
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Adela N. Gonzalez, Ph.D., M.P.A., is the new executive director for the Center for South Texas Programs, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Dr. Gonzalez will coordinate the UT Health Science Center’s programs at the Laredo Campus Extension. She will also manage the South Texas Area Health Education Centers program, which provides health career activities for prospective students, community-based clinical training for Health Science Center students and continuing education for health professionals, and health programs for residents in communities throughout 38 counties in South Texas.

Extensive experience makes for a perfect fit
“We could not have found anyone better qualified for this position,” said Theresa Chiang, Ed.D., vice president for academic administration. “Dr. Gonzalez grew up in South Texas and is familiar with the issues regarding access to care, the underserved community and the need for more health care professionals. She also has extensive experience with government grants and was responsible for writing and procuring a Health Community Outreach Program grant, which we will be applying for again this summer. She understands community health and has strong experience in public health.”

Joins Health Science Center May 1
After working in North Texas for 20 years, Dr. Gonzalez returned to South Texas 16 months ago for personal and family reasons. She joined the faculty of the UT School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus shortly after her arrival and joined the Health Science Center May 1.

Leader at University of North Texas Health Science Center
In Fort Worth, Dr. Gonzalez spent 13 years at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, where she served as vice president for community affairs and institutional diversity, as well as vice president for administration and vice president for strategic planning. She was instrumental in developing the North Texas’ School of Public Health, where she served as interim chair for the Department of Health Management and Policy for two years and interim chair for the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences for one year. She also directed the doctoral program in public health and taught several public health courses in the master’s and doctoral programs.

Dr. Gonzalez organized a Hispanic health fair in Fort Worth for eight years that provided health screenings for 16,000 people who had no health insurance or access to health care. The event involved more than 400 volunteers and 210 health booths. She raised $70,000 to pay the expenses of the health fair.

Experience in the public sector
Before her academic career, Dr. Gonzalez worked in the public sector as an administrator at the Austin-Travis County Health Department, at the Texas Department of Health and as the director for the city of Dallas Department of Health & Human Services, where she directed public and community health programs.

Orientation to South Texas issues under way
“Right now I am meeting with all the different representatives of the schools on campus and the five AHEC directors to get a good orientation to be followed by the setting of priorities to move the programs forward,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “Later in the summer, we will develop a vision and strategic plan for the Laredo campus and the community that includes workplace issues and the needs of health professionals there.”

Dr. Gonzalez succeeds Richard Garcia, Tina Fields, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Gonzalez follows both Richard Garcia, longtime assistant vice president for South Texas programs, who spent 30 years expanding health opportunities in the South Texas border region, and Tina Fields, Ph.D., M.P.H., who served in the interim after Garcia’s death in June 2006 until her recent retirement from the Health Science Center.

Volunteer work brought medical technologist into public health profession
Gonzalez grew up in both Laredo and Corpus Christi. “My grandparents lived in Laredo and my parents had their business in Corpus Christi,” she said. She started her career as a medical technologist in Corpus Christi, but became much more interested in public and community health after working as a volunteer answering the phone for a mental health agency. “I realized that I really liked working with people and doing community health work,” she said